Hone your craft – #2

My research thus far has been both intellectually enlightening and mentally challenging. Few things come easily without practice. The first time I tried preparing a subculture plate of a human melanoma cell line, I couldn’t even get the cells to reach 50% confluence after 3 days. Now, 3 months into my research position, I can plate a half-dozen culture plates in less than a couple hours, and they are fully confluent at 2 days. It is wildly rewarding to see the experiments one theorizes on paper come to fruition in a laboratory setting. All the college lectures and the incessant note-taking begin to feel worth it when one successfully performs scientific techniques and collects data that could make an impact. Whether that impact is novel or noteworthy, that person still made a contribution that could potentially inspire another study, or lead to a potential breakthrough. Practicing technically-sound and safe science is almost like an art-form. One wants the final product to be seen and lauded by others, but mastering the process itself is what separates the professional from the novice. By no means am I a professional, but I can still strive to act professionally and carry out my research accordingly.